Thanks for reading!

I've got a VG+ condition Yugo M24/47 - bore looks factory new, chamber almost as good. The bolt has some wear, but is certainly not beat to hell. I performed all Cosmoline removal myself, and inspected each part after cleaning prior to reinstallation. All metal looks good, no cracks or rust. All spring parts are still lively. I stripped the rifle completely for Cosmo removal, as per the instructions on SurplusRifle.com.

The problem is, the damn thing won't print a target at any distance from 50yds to 100yds. I've shot the surplus light ball ammo, as well as my own brand new handloads. Handload data was gathered from Lyman 49th Handbook, Speer Manual #14, Sierra 5th Edition, as well as data gathered from Hodgdon's Reloading Data Center. Short story, my loads were good. From what I can tell, the surplus ball was also good. Never had a misfire, FTF, difficult extraction, or anything of the sort. When I pulled the trigger, the gun went bang.

When I reassembled the rifle, I followed SurplusRifle's directions exactly. I didnt lose any parts during assembly. What in the world could cause a rifle to miss short and long range targets completely? I'm talking about 100+ rounds fired here, so sample size isnt absurdly small.

Only thing I can think is either the sights are drastically miss-aligned, or there is something like a bur in the crown that may be sending shots wayward. Did you slug the barrel by chance? May have something to do with it.
That, or its possible you found the mythical Brady Campaign gun and all those bullets were seeking children

I have not had the barrel slugged, but have been considering having it done. This is going to make that decision easier. Would I be able to see a burr in the crown w/naked eye?

If you are not hitting the target at 50 yards your sights are probably way off.  What size paper targets are you useing? Try one of those big body targets at 25 yards and see wher it is hitting.  Adjust the sights to be about 1 inch high at 25 yards then try 100 yards.  To change the elevation properly you may have to get another front sight.  Try the rear sight on 300 and 100 meters when shooting at 25 yards.

Can you get any kind of grouping out of it?

snowman357

For targets, I'm using four 8.5 by 11" standard printer paper, stapled to the cardboard backer in a big rectangle. I've tried the rectangle so the long end runs vertically, and I've tried horizontally, although neither orientation makes a difference. I'll usually find some rounds embedded in the wooden (2x4) target frames, both above and below the target backer. Maybe one round will impact the 34 by 44" target area.

I usually shoot w/the rear sight @ the 100m setting. I'll try again with it @ the 300m setting. I've also heard about a taller front sight that's available, and it seems appropriate that I should pick one up at this point. This is just so frustrating, with the metal in such nice condition, I really had very high hopes for this rifle.

Thanks everyone for reading and posting ideas and trying to help me. Plz feel free to keep the thoughts and info coming!

As mentioned, slug the bore.

Mount the rifle in a rest or prop it with sandbags, pointing at a target between 25 and 50 yards. Remove the bolt, and align the sights to the target.
Look down the barrel. it should point approximately at the target.

If someone has a laser boresight, use it.

Is it possible you are shooting the wrong caliber out of it?  Even if your sights are waaayy off, you should be able to get a group at a short distance and then back up to see where your sights need to be adjusted.  If it is just throwing rounds every where, something is making them wobble.

Going to have the bore slugged next week. Anyone know - roughly - how much that should cost?

Everything I've read has indicated that the M24/47 shoots the .323 cal 8x57JS round. That is all I have ever fed my rifle, and is kinda why I'm so damned frustrated with how poorly it shoots. I've double and triple checked that everything is locked down tight, that I rebuilt the rifle correctly, and that I'm shooting the correct ammunition.

You can slug the bore yourself with a fishing sinker (of appropriate diameter) and some hardwood dowel rods. Look at the crown with a magnifying glass. Look for any imperfections or eroded rifling at the muzzle. How clean is the bore? Is it copper fouled?

No need to get any sights shooting like that can not be fixed with a sight, like every one said slug the barrel try shooting of a sand bag at 25 yards.  I have to ask are you sure you are not anticipating the recoil,  also are you use to shooting 2 stage triggers. (no insult meant).  If your not sure let somebody else try or get somebody to load or not load rounds for you so when you pull the trigger you will not know if a live round is in it or not.  I guess that stock is good and tight to the action and head space is correct.  What do the fires cases look like, do the shoulders look ok?

Snowma357

+1. And then dig the bullets out of the berm and have a look at the rifling marks.

You didn't mention the bullet weight of your hand loads. Mausers in general like heavy projectiles, 175-200 grain. I had the same problem with surplus ammo and was about to give up until I started to hand load 8 mm with 200 grain Sierra match kings. I won't even consider surplus ammo anymore, it's usually loaded way too hot and makes the bolt hard to work. Try some heavy projectiles and use a 6 o'clock hold because Mausers also tend to shoot high. I bet you will find it will do the trick.

No offense taken. I'm asking for help, and I know that I should probably face as much scrutiny as the condition my rifle and what ammo I shoot through it.

Handloaded ammo is 175gr. Prvi PSPBT, in new Prvi brass. Loaded with H335 at different levels, from 42.3gr on the low end to 45.5gr at the top. Primers are Remington 9 1/2, COAL is 3.000" +/- 0.025".

I'm used to single stage triggers as well as two-stage triggers. I have also had a friend who has more firearms experience than me (by a few years and a few rifles) fire this M24/47, and his results have been the same as mine. He's probably put 40 to 50 rds. through it, in addition to the rounds I've fired.

The fired cases look very similar to the brand new ones, the only difference being OAL is shorter after firing. Brand new cases measure between 2.235" and 2.240", and after firing and prep/neck sizing, OAL is almost exactly 2.230". Lucky me - the cases fire and neck themselves right to the "trim to: " number. So I've got that going for me...

ETA: w/respect to anticipating recoil, I can say that I do not do this. When I first began shooting, I had a list of "things not to do" and recoil anticipation was on that list. I've asked friends and fellow shooters to watch my form occasionally, and have been told that I dont flinch or do anything that might affect POI.

before worrying about handloads and slugging the bore, I think that I would find out where my shots are impacting.  Unless I am missing something here, then you don't know what the point of impact is for your sights.  Set up the target closer at 25 yards to see if you are simply firing "high and right" for example.  My VZ-24 was firing 12" to the leftand maybe 8" high at 50 yards.  

Figure out where it is shooting before you assume that the group size is bad and before looking at crown damage or whatnot.

+1. I have very limited experience, but i would say the first logical step would be to find out exactly where the shots are going, if there is a pattern/group or if they are just being flung randomly, and how they are hitting (straight on or sideways)

I have two that do exactly that.  You can feel the loose spots where the barrel opens up with a tight patch .  It gets easy, then hard for every bad spot.

It might actually shoot soft cast lead bullets pretty well.

Only solution is a new pipe.

+1

It's not the bore size.

I'd bet you're overshooting the target... too high. Without knowing your level of experience it's hard to say what is wrong with the rifle. Probably nothing is wrong. Bring the target as close as necessary to mark hits and see what's what with that first. Don't spend any money on slugging the bore. Shoot it again first at 10 yards if you have to. Most military rifles shoot very high, 300-400 meters zero.

Dutch

take a 4 foot X 8 foot piece of plywood and put your target in the very middle.

shoot a group of 5 shots, take your time, sandbags for the rifle rest ( under the STOCK not under the barrel ! ) control your breath and slowly squeeze the trigger.

then measure your group of bullet holes... take pics... show us those pics...



as for slugging the bore its VERY easy. i have a russian M44 that also has a factory new looking barrel, but has a spot in the center that measures WAY larger than the rest of the barrel, yet at 100 yards i can shoot 2-3 inch groups all day long with surplus ammo.


my guess is if you do my plywood test- you will find the bullet grouping 2 feet above the target ( at 100 yards ) and slightly lower at 50 yards. you might fix this with a taller front sight post, like i did with my first M44

I have a yugo M48 that  shot high.  WAY high.

Miss steel gongs at 100 yards high.


The rear sight calibration is supposed to start at 200 meters.  It shot high at 200 meters as well.  I had to hold about a foot under an IPSC target to hit it center mass.


I bought the Brownells blank for $15 bucks, carefully fitted it to the dovetail, and I am in the process of slowly filing it down to properly zero the rifle.


As an added bonus, the standard front post of the new sight is MUCH easier to maintain a proper sight picture with than the inverted V of the front post.  I got rained out before I got it finished but I printed a nice 2.5 inch group with '60s Yugo surplus that was centered one inch low and one inch right.  I plan to bring it up to 3 inches high at 100 meters which should have me zeroed at 200 meters with 196gr ball and the sight graduations for extended range shooting should finally be correct.


I suspect you are shooting high.  Start at 25 yards and use a big target.

there is no 100m setting, lowest it goes is 200m. the rifles were intended to shoot heavy 198gr ammo, not 175gr. by factoring both of those in, you end up shooting a foot or two high at 100 yards. I had this very problem with my rifle. try using the plywood method as someone mentioned, it can tell you a lot about how your rifle shoots.